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RUNOFF 2014 • District 6 race has a partisan tinge

rban Pro NEWS • COMMENTARY

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ALLISON CAMPBLELL (left) reacts as she has a blood sample taken from her fingertip during “KIDNEY ACTION DAY”, held at The Kroc Center on Saturday. The event was created by The American Kidney Fund to help people understand their risk for kidney disease and how to prevent it.

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“Kidney Action Day” is held in cities where rates of kidney disease are higher than the national average. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

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The City

Distric 6 Candidate Ben Hasan is up against a Richmond County Republican leader in next Tuesday’s runoff election. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

District 6 race has a partisan tinge

By Frederick Benjamin Sr. UrbanProWeekly Political Analyst AUGUSTA Perhaps the most understated political contest in this round of General Primary and nonpartisan contests is the District 6 runoff race between Ben Hasan and Bob Finnegan.

Hasan is a well-known local entrepreneur, community advocate and media personality who is also journalist and publisher.

Finnegan is often described as the former president of the Richmond County Republican Party. It’s never mentioned that Finnegan is the current president of the Richmond County Republican Committee.

The understated aspect of the District 6 contest is race. District 6 is probably the most racially-balanced of the eight Augusta-Richmond political subdivisions, but it is political ideology and not race that most clearly profiles the political potential of these two candidates.

It would not be an oversimplification to suggest that this race comes down to the candidates’ political tendencies. While it would be an oversimplification to suggest that Hasan is the liberal and Finnegan is the conservative, it would be far more accurate to suggest that Hasan is more in tune with the voters of District 6 who went to the polls and reelected President Obama and elected Richard Roundtree as the new sheriff. While we’re not privy to Finnegan’s voting record, we don’t think we’d be

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POLITICAL COMMENTARY risking much if we venture a guess that he supported Mitt Romney for president and Freddie Sanders for sheriff.

Clearly, the colors of significance in this race is neither black nor white, but rather red and blue.

Richmond County is clearly a “blue” county in a “red” state.

One thing you can be sure of. There’s nothing in Mr. Hasan’s recent or past history that would lead you to believe that he would submit his beliefs to scrutiny by the local Democratic party. Can the same be said of Mr. Finnegan and the local G.O.P? Not only is Mr. Finnegan a card-carrying Republican, he cannot avoid the fact that his is a “red state” political operative as well.

The fact that the county commission race is “nonpartisan” serves only to give Finnegan “cover” for is public GOP persona.

If the city of Augusta is in need of change, which candidate affords the city the greater opportunity for such change?

There’s nothing to suggest that either candidate is more passionate about economic development, efficient governance et cetera, but there’s little doubt that the votes emanating from the new District 6 commissioner will either maintain the status quo or be a significant change.

The current District 6 Commissioner, Joe

Publisher Ben Hasan 706-394-9411

District 6 candidate Bob Finnegan is the chairman of the Richmond County Rebuplican Committee and a former president of the Richmond County republican party.

Jackson has been a witting co-conspirator of every bad deal (The TEE Center Parking Deck), bad decision (the “reorganization” of the government), and debacle-of-the-week (the municipal building remodeling) that has beset this current commission for the last six years. In short, he has voted like a key supporter of the “reign of error” unleashed on the commission by the Russell administration.

Which candidate is more likely to stand up to the pro-privatization, anti-worker agenda of the forces which control Augusta politics and finance?

Managing Editor Frederick Benjamin Sr. 706-306-4647

Photography and Social Media Courtesy of Vincent Hobbs

Ministers attending the Sixth District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church’s annual conference gathered at the site of Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church’s on 8th Street for a prayer rally on Monday (July 14).

The site is the birthplace of the “Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. The ministers hope to avert demolition of the building, which was built in the 1890’s. Atlanta Gas Light owns the property and is planning a clean-up of the site to remove coal tar contamination which could include demolition of the church.

The ministers are in town from across the state of Georgia to kick off their Georgia Annual Conference convening at Paine College Photo by Vincent Hobbs

SENATE DISTRICT 22 RUNOFF

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

City finds $1.2 million SPLOST cash laying around, gives it to the CVB for signs (Far left) Corey Johnson, mayor pro tem, will meet Harold Jones (left), former solicitor general in the July 22 runoff.

Photos by Vincent Hobbs

Johnson, Jones – contrasting styles

By Frederick Benjamin Sr. UrbanProWeekly Political Analyst AUGUSTA The other local race being watched closely in Democratic circles pits former solicitor general Harold Jones against mayor pro tem Corey Johnson in the Senate District 22 runoff.

Despite their relative young ages 44, and 40 respectively both candidates have enjoyed successful political careers. Voters were nearly evenly divided when the two met in the May 22, General Primary. A little more than 300 votes was all that separated the two.

Johnson received 7,403 votes (45.1 percent) while Jones received 7,088 votes (43.1 percent). The relatively strong showing by third place finisher Elmyria Chivers (12 percent) kept either candidate from an outright majority victory.

Both candidates suggest that their political experience gives the voters a clear choice in representing the 22nd District in the Georgia General Assembly. While their goals for service don’t differ significantly, their

differences are most apparent in their demonstrated styles of governance.

As a sitting city councilman, Johnson has often drawn criticism for unpopular stances which at times cast him as a supporter of the status quo. Such criticism, Johnson has countered, is what would make him an effective state legislator. Johnson has a reputation as a consensus builder.

Jones, has a reputation for being a brilliant political strategist and possessing a deliberate comprehensive approach to problem solving. His civil-rights credentials are impeccable and he has a reputation for breaking through political and social barriers.

Despite their closeness in age, the younger Johnson appears to enjoy the support of a younger demographic while Jones projects a maturity and wisdom which has garnered him the support of the more traditional black leadership. Such leadership, is represented by recently elected political ground breakers such as Sheriff Richard Roundtree, Solicitor General Kellie McIntyre and Tax Commissioner Stephen Kendrick — all of whom support the Jones candidacy.

By Frederick Benjamin Sr. AUGUSTA A recent decision to hand over $1.2 million to the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau clearly demonstrates the nature of the serious financial problems with which the city of Augusta finds itself faced. The fact that the money (to be used for increased signage) comes from unprogrammed tax receipts from SPLOST II underscores the growing mistrust of how the city handles its SPLOST expenditures. That mistrust manifested in the defeat of the most recent $194 million SPLOST effort.

Despite a recent glowing financial audit which paints a rosy picture of how the city accounts for the money it handles, the fact is that the city is in dire financial straits. The cavalier manner in which the city spends SPLOST dollars for projects for which the public never cast a vote is demonstrated by this latest “reprogramming” of SPLOST money.

The handover of the $1.2 million for a clearly “nonessential” use puts in stark release the importance of the recent challenging of the entire SPLOST enterprise of the last several years. The transfer of funds to the tourism boosting agency begs for the “slick” label for the surreptitious manner in which it was brought before the commission and the attempt to hide the “dollar” amount of the request until it was time to vote it up or down.

This transaction, which was supported by an 8-0 vote qualifies as nothing less than “genteel corruption.”

5 UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

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Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Doomed by quality, but not concept Closing of ‘Holler if Ya Hear Me’ raises questions

By Charles Isherwood

S

ad to say, the only surprise about the closing of “Holler if Ya Hear Me,” the new musical featuring the songs of the rapper Tupac Shakur, was that it didn’t come earlier. When the show opened to downbeat reviews on June 19, many expected it would close within a week.

The production, directed by this year’s Tony winner Kenny Leon (“A Raisin in the Sun”), had been doing dismal business in previews; there were reports that it wouldn’t make it to opening night. After hanging on for a few weeks with no improvement in ticket sales, the producers announced on Monday that the show would end its brief run on Sunday, after just 17 previews and 38 regular performances. Most, if not all, of its $8 million capitalization will be lost.

In an interview he gave to Variety when “Holler” was on the ropes but before the closing announcement, the show’s lead producer, Eric L. Gold, said, “If we don’t succeed, it’s going to be very difficult to do another rap or hip-hop show on Broadway,” suggesting that producers would cite the show’s failure as proof that Broadway audienc-

es — who are overwhelmingly white — resisted “Holler” because they found the music unfamiliar or unappealing.

The truth is that it’s difficult to make a success of just about any big musical on Broadway that doesn’t arrive with either a market-tested brand name, or gushing reviews from London, or both. Shakur, despite selling millions of albums both before and after his death in 1996, is not a name that would naturally resonate with most Broadway audiences.

Opening “Holler” cold on Broadway, without a regional theater tryout to work out the kinks (the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, where Mr. Leon was artistic director for more than 10 years, would have been a natural choice), was a risky, ultimately unwise decision. A better show would have had a much better chance of making it.

I’ll grant that Shakur’s songs, with their raw language and dense lyrics, are not an easy fit for a Broadway musical. Still, the concept was audacious and intriguing. Mr. Leon and Todd Kreidler, who wrote the book, deserve credit for trying to expand the repertoire of the Broadway musical, which has embraced forms of rock and pop music in recent decades. Back in the

’90s, George C. Wolfe had a substantial Broadway hit with the black history revue “Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk,” which employed music not that distant from Shakur’s. It ran for almost three years after transferring from the Public Theater.

In truth, the problem with “Holler” wasn’t really the music at all, but the ham-handed, sentimentalized story line concocted to underpin it. I tended to perk up during the musical numbers, which capitalized on the forceful rhythms of Shakur’s raps, layered over music that often had a strong melodic core. Then I’d sink back into my seat when the clichéd narrative ground back into gear, telling us what we already knew about the travails of young black men in the ghetto, trying to resist the toxic environment to forge viable futures for themselves.

I don’t think the failure of “Holler” will dampen attempts to build Broadway musicals around hip-hop or R&B or even rap.

Still, the failure of “Holler,” following on the heels of the financial failure of “After Midnight,” the terrific revue inspired by the music of the fabled Cotton Club, does suggest that

Broadway has yet to find a way to reach black audiences in large numbers. Put Denzel Washington in a classic play — this season’s “A Raisin in the Sun” or August Wilson’s “Fences” — and black audiences (and white ones, too) line up to pay the hefty Broadway ticket prices north of $100. But these same audiences didn’t show up in large enough numbers for either “Midnight,” despite its rave reviews, or the less liked but more contemporary “Holler.”

In the end, it wasn’t the concept but the quality that was the problem with “Holler.” Broadway producers will always remain hungry for strong material, even if it pushes the boundaries of musical theater. Perhaps particularly if it pushes those boundaries, since shows with more traditional scores — “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Big Fish” — flopped pretty spectacularly on Broadway last season.

I’d be willing to bet that should Jay Z evince any interest in shaping his music for repurposing as a Broadway musical, producers would be falling all over themselves to climb aboard.

Actually, if I weren’t precluded from doing so, I would be tempted to invest myself.

UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

“Holler if Ya Hear Me,” with music by Tupac Shakur and direction by the Tony winner Kenny Leon, is closing on Sunday after a short run on Broadway.

UrbanProWeekly - JULY 17 - 23, 2014

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FRONT ‘N’ CENTER

KIDNEY ACTION DAY

Carolyn Yancey (center) dances during "Kidney Action Day", held at The Kroc Center on Saturday. The event was created by The American Kidney Fund to help people understand their risk for kidney disease and how to prevent it. Dozens of people were screened for kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and also enjoyed live entertainment and cooking demonstrations. "Kidney Action Day" is held in cities where rates of kidney disease are higher than the national average.

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Mayor-elect and Georgia state senator Hardie Davis gets a blood glucose screening during “Kidney Action Day”, held at The Kroc Center on Saturday. The event was created by The American Kidney Fund to help people understand their risk for kidney disease and how to prevent it.

Dozens of people were screened for kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and also enjoyed live entertainment and cooking demonstrations.

“Kidney Action Day” is held in cities where rates of kidney disease are higher than the national average.

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

New waterfront location selected for International African American Museum CHARLESTON, SC The International African American Museum will have a new, waterfront location after a key City Council committee this week approved a $3.5 million land purchase.

The city was poised to build the museum on a site at the corner of Concord and Calhoun streets, across from the S.C. Aquarium and Fort Sumter tour boat site.

But council’s Real Estate Committee unanimously approved purchasing a new 1.23-acre site, which is south of the Dockside condominiums.

It also is adjacent to the site of the former Gadsden’s Wharf, which was built in 1767 and accepted slave ships from Africa.

The full City Council approved the purchase Tuesday.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the city would sell the site at Concord and Calhoun streets for development. The sale will bring in more than enough to cover the cost of the new site, he said.

Riley said that when researching certain aspects of the museum, the city learned the waterfront site might be available. It’s a much better site, he said, because it provides a direct view of the entrance to the Charleston Harbor and over the former Gadsden’s Wharf.

Councilman Keith Waring, a member of the Real Estate Committee, said he is “a child from the days of segregation” and he’s pleased to see how people of all races are committed to the museum being built. “I can’t wait to take my grandson to this museum,” he said.

The $3.5 million deal has two parts, Riley said. First the city will purchase .82 acres from the Balish family, which owns the property under the name Waterfront Restaurant, LLC. The family also has a long-term lease with the city on an adjacent .41-acre site, which they paid for up front, Riley said, although he didn’t provide any specific amounts. The city will buy out the family’s 30-year lease on that parcel, he said.

The family has owned the .82-acre portion since 2003, which it purchased from the city for $600,000.

David Humphreys, a lawyer representing the city in the deal, said the value of the two parcels of land likely is greater than $3.5 million. If that proves true, the Balish family will be able to consider the difference between the value of the property and the amount the city paid for it as a charitable contribution for tax purposes.

Riley said the family had plans in the works to open a waterfront restaurant, but it was willing to forgo those plans.

He’s not sure when construction will begin on the museum. The city can’t begin building until it has raised the $75 million required for the 43,500-square-foot building.

So far, the city and Charleston County each have agreed to contribute $12.5 million.

Riley hopes the state eventually will contribute $25 million, but in its most recent session, the Legislature contributed only $7 million.

The city also must raise $25 million from private sources, he said. And he’s working on that. In June, he met with former President Bill Clinton, hoping to get his help in the fundraising effort. It remains unclear whether that meeting will eventually bring in any money.

Clinton, who runs the nonprofit Clinton Foundation that’s geared toward improving global health, economic development and other issues, is a past member of the museum’s advisory board.

UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

By Diane Knich The Post & Courier

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Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., announces that a $75 million International African American Museum will be built at the site of a wharf in Charleston. The site is where tens of thousands of slaves first set foot in the United States. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith)

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HEALTH CARE LAW

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By Misty Williams ATLANTA Federal health officials say they plan to examine why tens of thousands of poor Georgians who applied for Medicaid through the health care law’s insurance marketplace still have no idea months lat er whether they’ll actually get coverage.

Nearly 89,000 people who applied for health coverage through the online marketplace at HealthCare.gov discovered they could be eligible for Georgia’s Medicaid program. But just over 13,000 of them, about 15 percent, have learned whether they will indeed get coverage.

Many of the rest sit trapped in governmental limbo despite the marketplace’s open enrollment period having ended on March 31.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said in a July 9 letter to Georgia’s Medicaid chief that it will look at how many people are being affected, how long they have been waiting, and what technical challenges or gaps have contributed to the “substantial backlog.”

The backlog stems, in part, from persistent technical troubles that prevented application data from seamlessly transferring from the federal system to the state. Instead, the state said it didn’t begin getting the full set of data it needs to determine Medicaid eligibility until May 1 and has been working to process the applications ever since.

“We are individually processing these files as quickly as possible and comparing applicants through the (federal marketplace) with people who have also applied for Medicaid directly through the state,” Georgia Department of Community Health spokeswoman Pam Keene said Tuesday in an email Keene said there is no estimated time frame for when the state hopes to have processed all of the applications.

Meanwhile, some people may have ended up applying directly through the state.

HealthCare.gov , a key element of the Affordable Care Act, was supposed to be a one-stop shop for consumers.

They would enter their information once, then be directed to private health insurance options or to Medicaid if their income qualified. But the marketplace computer system couldn’t pass along data to a number of systems in other states, which were outdated in many cases.

Nationwide, more than a dozen states are struggling to clear backlogs of hundreds of thousands of people who tried to sign up for Medicaid coverage through the marketplace. Many, including Georgia, faced daunting technical problems. Others were overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants.

Nearly 7 million marketplace applicants were deemed Medicaid eligible.

In addition to Georgia, CMS plans to review backlog problems in six more states, including North Carolina. It is also demanding that a half-dozen others, including Tennessee, submit written plans of how to solve gaps in Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems.

“A lot of states had to really make significant upgrades to their Medicaid eligibility systems or build wholly new systems,” said Samantha Artiga, an expert with the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

States are typically supposed to process some types of Medicaid applications within 45 days. It’s been more than 70 days since Georgia’s technical glitches were fixed.

The would-be enrollees in limbo are potentially Medicaid eligible under the state’s current guidelines. They don’t include the estimated 650,000 or so Georgians who would have been eligible if Gov. Nathan Deal had opted to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

Deal has said repeatedly that the state can’t afford to expand an already massive and costly program. Medicaid provides health coverage to roughly 1.7 million low-income children, pregnant women, the elderly and the disabled.

It does not cover healthy single adults.

Georgia’s backlog troubles may be a sign that the state isn’t investing enough in new technologies and other resources to make sure people who are

Raffle to benefit CSRA college bound students AUGUSTA The CSRA Alumni Chapter of Claflin University will host its $10,000 Reverse Raffle on Friday, July 18, 2014 at 7 p.m. at Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Augusta, Ga. The alumni group host the scholarship raffle annually, which has benefited more than 20 students from the CSRA area with plans to attend or currently attending Claflin University located in Orangeburg, SC. Tickets are $100. Attendees have a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000 and there will be more chances to win money and prizes.

Attendees will also enjoy dinner by Chef Ronnie Burley, dancing and meet Claflin students. This year’s sponsors include Massage Envy.

“This event is very important. We all want to see students graduate from high school and pursue higher

education and funds from this event will help several students who plan to purse their education at Claflin,” said Willie Frazier, president of the CSRA Alumni Chapter of Claflin University.

Alumni of Claflin University understand the meaning of giving back. It comes as no surprise that Claflin is ranked first among historically black colleges and universities on the U.S. News and World Report Short List for its alumni giving rate. Claflin now boasts an alumni giving rate of 52.2 percent, placing it among the best in the nation.

For more information about this event, please contact Natasha Carter.

For tickets, please contact Willie Frazier at (706) 399-6105. For further information about Claflin University and Claflin Alumni, visit the www. claflin.edu or www.claflinuniversityalumni.com.

eligible for Medicaid actually get covered, said Tim Sweeney, a health care expert with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Sweeney added that many of the people stuck in Medicaid limbo are likely children.

“Increasing access to those who are eligible should be a higher priority,” he said. “It should be a goal to get all

of those kids enrolled.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been following the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and effects on Georgians. Find our full coverage at MyAJC.com / healthcare, where you can explore interactive graphics on insurance exchanges and poll results on how residents have fared under the health care law.

UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

Feds to examine backlog in Ga. Medicaid applications

UrbanProWeekly - JULY 17 - 23, 2014

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Georgia Statewide Area Health Education Center Network named best in the country AUGUSTA The Georgia Statewide Area Health Education Center Network has received the 2014 Eugene S. Mayer Program of Excellence Award, which recognizes the most outstanding AHEC program in the country, from the National AHEC Office.

The annual award is given to a program that exemplifies the best qualities of an AHEC program – program comprehensiveness, community and university partnerships, responsiveness to community needs, and a significant impact on improving access to health care for the citizens of its state. The Georgia Statewide AHEC

GRU launches new online sport coaching certificate The Department of Kinesiology and Health Science in Georgia Regents University’s College of Education is now offering the state’s first graduate-level certificate program in Sport Coaching.

This one-year, online program combines sports psychology with specialized educational training in areas including the fundamentals of coaching, sports psychology, preparing high school athletes for college-level sports, and understanding the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Clearinghouse.

GRU is now accepting students into the program and classes are scheduled to begin in the fall.

For more information about GRU’s new certificate in sport coaching, contact Graeme Connolly, coordinator of the certificate program, at 706-667-4882 or gconnolly@gru.edu.

Network, comprised of six regional centers and a program office at Georgia Regents University, is a partnership coordinated by GRU that aims to boost the supply of health professionals and distribute more of them to rural and underserved areas of the state.

Among the network’s signature achievements is a comprehensive,

multi-year “Primary Care Summit” initiative, which brings medical education and AHEC leaders from across the state together to develop strategies to address Georgia’s primary care physician shortage, aiming to have 100 primary care physicians per 100,000 people in Georgia by 2020.

Network staff are also coordinat-

ing a new program to provide tax deductions for community based faculty who train 3rd and 4th year medical students in primary care, the first of its kind in the nation; expanding primary care loan forgiveness resources for students; and addressing the existing and worsening deficit of faculty to support expanded residency slots.

AUGUSTA P UBLIC MEE TING NOTICE

Proposed Am endm e nt s to Au gu sta’s R oad Nam i ng and Add re ssing Ord inance In order to provide a system of unique road names and addresses which are essential to successfully improve, expedite, and enhance locating properties for Public Safety and delivery purposes.

Tuesday July 22

5:00 - 7:00 PM

Monday July 28

Meeting Start Time 1:00 PM

East Central Georgia Regional Library 823 Telfair St. (Room B – 1st Floor) Augusta, GA 30901 Municipal Building - Commission Chambers Administrative Services Committee 530 Greene St. (2nd Floor) Augusta, GA 30901

gisaddressing@augustaga.gov 706-821-2843

For more information: www.augustaga.gov/gis

Universal Wealth Management Group Leroy Stokes III

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TAX SERVICES AVAILABLE Cynthia Harris

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website: gradientfg.com

MEDICAL VILLA PHARMACY WE TAKE: •Georgia medicaid •Insurance plans •Charge cards •WIC vouchers Marshall Curtis, Pharmacist/Owner Baron Curtis, Pharmacist

FREE DELIVERY SERVICE

706-722-7355

Directory

UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

WORSHIP

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Good Shepherd Baptist Church

Rev. Clarence Moore, Pastor 1714 Olive Road / P. O. Box 141 (mailing address) Augusta, GA 30903 706/733-0341- Telephone/706/667-0205 – Fax E-mail address: admin@goodshepherdaugusta.org Web address: goodshepherdaugusta.org Rev. Clarence Moore Church Service: 7:45 & 11:00 a.m.

Church School: 9:45 a.m. / Prayer Service: 11:00 a.m. – Wednesday Bible Study: 9:00 a.m. - Saturday / 7:00 p.m. - Wednesday

Everfaithful Missionary Baptist Church

314 Sand Bar Ferry Road Augusta, Georgia 30901 (706) 722- 0553 Church School Sunday 9:25am Morning Worship Sunday 11am Evening Worship 6pm (1st & 3rd Sunday) Midday Prayer 12pm Wednesday Intercessory Prayer/Bible Study 6pm Wednesday

Bishop Rosa L. Williams, Pastor

Radio Broadcast: Sundays • WKZK 103.7 FM at 7:30 a.m.

Sunday School 8:30 am Morning Worship Services: 9:45 am Evening Worship Services 6 pm (4th Sunday) Bible Study: 6pm (Mondays) Midday Bible Study: 12pm (Tuesdays) Prayer Services: 6pm (Wednesdays) Celebrate Recovery: 6pm (Fridays) and 12pm (Mondays) 2323 Barton Chapel Road • Augusta,GA 30906 706.790.8185 / 706.922.8186 (fax) Visit Us @ www.broadwaybaptistaug.org • Join us on facebook

Sunday Morning Services 10 am Wednesday Services 7 pm 2070 Brown Road, Hephzibah, GA 30815 (706) 592-9221 | www.alwc.net

Dr. C. William Joyner, Jr. Senior Pastor

Start your calling today! Mount Olivet Certified Academic Institution 706.793.0091 • 706.793.0335 • www.mocai-aug.org

Daily Morning Prayer

6:30 a.m. - 6:45 a.m.

218-548-1625 • Access Code 2331#

Be Sure To Vote on July 22 for Commission District 6 and Senate District 22

UrbanProWeekly - JULY 17 - 23, 2014

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U W rban Pro

eekly

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Commentary

BY KRISTIE ROBIN JOHNSON

Redefining freedom in the 21st Century T

his summer will mark fifty years since one of America’s most notorious and tumultuous seasons. It was the summer of 1964. It was a summer of extraordinary change. It was a summer of extraordinary sorrow as well.

During the summer of 1964, the now infamous Freedom Riders began their courageous journeys into the segregated south.

It was also during this uproarious and violent season that three of these young aforementioned Freedom Riders were murdered in cold blood in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Their only crime was truly loving their human brothers as they loved themselves. That summer also saw the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, guaranteeing the Deep South’s African-American citizens equal application of voter registration requirements and desegregating public schools and facilities. In many ways the summer of 1964 helped define the true meaning of freedom for many of our parents and grandparents. As we look back that on that historic time some fifty years later, we must begin to ask ourselves how our generation will define freedom. What will freedom look like for children born in the age of

Obama? Are there any real “freedom fights” left to be fought?

For many people in their twenties, thirties, and even their forties, freedom is thought to be an already met American achievement. Segregation is a thing of the past. All minority groups have made remarkable advances. Marriage equality is catching on in more and more states.

Recreational marijuana use is legal in two states. We even managed to elect a black president.

Seems pretty free, right? But, when we begin to peel back the layers of black advancement— underneath the Michael Jordan’s, the Oprah’s, and the Barack Obama’s—there lies a poisonous reality that we often turn a blind eye towards. The AfricanAmerican unemployment rate is nearly twice the national rate even though some say that we are recovering from a recession.

Black males are routinely and disproportionately incarcerated in a racially and socioeconomically biased criminal justice system.

The list goes on and on. These truths are heartbreaking and do not resemble anything close to freedom. As I’ve done in the past, I’ll offer a poetic summation to close:

BORN FREE My third great grandmother thought she was born free-she bore no chains; felt no lash.

She thought she was free until she found her brother hanging from a tree.

My great grandmother thought she was born free-no shady sharecroppers; no toiling in the hot sun.

She claimed to be free until she tried to exercise her right to vote.

My grandmother thought she was born free-she earned her own money; owned her own home.

She was positive that she was free until she tried to send her daughter to school with little white children.

My mother thought she was born free-she wore a grand afro and graduated from college.

She was certain of her freedom until Dr. King stepped out on a balcony only to meet his death.

I thought I was born free-I went to integrated schools and cast ballots without fear.

You couldn’t tell me that I wasn’t free until Rodney King’s assailants walked away uncuffed.

But surely, surely my sons were born free-they look in the mirror and see the leader of the free world staring back at them.

I was so sure that those boys, my boys, were free as a bird until Trayvon’s long walk home went unavenged and left us undone.

Kristie Robin Johnson

LETTERS: Americans Exceptional?

Legalizing marijuana is more proof that Americans are ordinary, not exceptional.

American exceptionalism is a delusion of Rush Limbaugh and right wing conservatives. Like ordinary humans Americans talk right, but walk wrong.

Even America’s greatest foundational document disproves the myth of American exceptionalism.

Constitutional Amendment 13 dealt with the abolition of slavery. Had Americans been exceptional slavery would not have existed and

3450 Peach Orchard Rd Augusta, GA 30906

the need to abolish slavery would not have been necessary. Next, Amendment 18 dealt with prohibiting intoxicating liquors. Exceptional Americans would not have excessively consumed intoxicating liquors and the need for prohibition would not have been necessary. However, because of moral weakness for illegally consuming intoxicating liquors which led to lawlessness, Americans were forced to enact Amendment 21 repealing prohibition. Vice won, virtue lost.

Kevin Palmer, Martinez, GA

MEETING NOTIFICATION

TBA Trowell Builders & Associates Designers • Builders • Planners

Sanctuary Multi-Purpose Buildings Renovations P.O. Box 211886 Augusta, Ga 30917 1.800.546.2685 • Fax 706.738.6328 email: tbamakedreams@aol.com

Augusta Aviation Commission Human Resources Sub Committees Meeting The Augusta Regional Airport Aviation Commission Human Resources Sub Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. in the Executive Conference Room located in Administration on the 2nd floor of the Airport.

Augusta Aviation Commission Masters 2014 Sub Committee Meeting The Augusta Regional Airport Aviation Commission Masters 2014 Sub Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. in the FBO Conference Room located at the Private Aviation Services (FBO) at the Airport.

Please feel free to contact Airport Administration at 706798-3236.

Stress Physical Inactivity Family History of Cardiovascular disease Obesity Diabetes High Blood Pressure High Cholesterol Cigarette Smoking HEART ATTACK • BRAIN ATTACK • PREVENT ATTACK East Central Health District Hypertension Management Outreach Program

Richmond County 706.721.5800

UrbanProWeekly • JULY 17 - 23, 2014

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